Tools in Their Toolbox: How Community College Faculty Transfer Industry Experience Into Their Teaching

Sample and data

Our data consisted of in-person interviews with 14 faculty members who participated in the second wave of an ongoing longitudinal, mixed-methods study following faculty who engaged in professional development activities centered on contextualizing mathematics instruction at two large 2-year institutions in a Midwestern state. The institutions were selected based on their comprehensive math course offerings and shared interest in the faculty development opportunity. All faculty participants teach mathematics in their math department or mathematics-oriented courses in technical education programs, including advanced manufacturing, engineering technology, biotechnology, construction technology, transportation technology, advanced manufacturing, and engineering technology.

Data collection

The semi-structured interviews included in this study were conducted in fall 2018, with a focus on faculty development around math contextualization and what they draw upon when teaching in the classroom. Interviews took place at a location chosen by the participant—often in the classroom or shop where they teach. Each was recorded and transcribed verbatim by a member of the research team. Interviewers asked a series of open-ended questions, which began by asking participants to talk about their role at their college along with their professional experience before teaching. Following those questions, we asked faculty about their experiences engaging in professional development activities, working with other faculty, and their teaching experiences and practices, among others. Our research question emerged as data collection for the larger study continued, and it became clear that aspects of faculty members’ industry experience connected to their teaching. In line with qualitative research, newly emerged, relevant questions can and should be pursued independently as a focused inquiry that is welcomed by the open-ended characteristic of qualitative research (Denzin, 2016). Of the 23 total interview participants in the larger project, for this particular study, we selected 14 faculty members due to their demonstrated industrial backgrounds as they shared with us. See Table A1 in the appendix for details about our participants and their programs, areas of instruction, and backgrounds.

Reasons for changing careers

Faculty who came into academia from the field reported a number of reasons for making the change. Giving back to their college or to their trade was a major motivation. As an example, Aaron, who teaches industrial welding technology, worked in the welding industry for 30 years and was not actively looking for a teaching position. When he came across the opportunity, he realized that teaching would be a great way to give back—especially having graduated from the same program. Aaron shared,

I wasn’t looking for it, but when the opportunity came up, I was certainly interested in it. ’Cause I had spent all these years doing very similar work at different companies. . . not that I was bored with it, but this was something different. And I thought it’s a great way to—especially having graduated here—it’s a great way to come back and give back, so to speak. It just seemed like a neat opportunity.

Others chose to leave the industry due to job requirements becoming too physically demanding. For instance, Kevin, Aaron’s colleague in the welding program, remarked on the physical differences between industry work and teaching. He explained that “Now I get to still do something I like without killing myself anymore. I mean, after 33 years, the back issues—sore, tired. Teaching’s physically less demanding.” Similarly, Audrey, who teaches in construction, initially transitioned because of the physical toll caused by handling equipment such as “a couple-hundred-pound compressor.” She started teaching when a night course opened and eventually transitioned into full-time instruction.

Challenges after transitioning to academia

The faculty we included in our study have diverse training in their field, but none previously received formal training in education pedagogy. This reason, among others, contributes to various challenges to navigating academia, such as lacking the confidence to guide students through their program, being nervous that students will question the instructor’s expertise and teaching ability, and estimating their students’ abilities.

Faculty often find strategies on their own to overcome fears and obstacles associated with teaching. For example, Robin, a math instructor, transitioned into teaching from engineering. Although she had always wanted to teach, she found it to be really difficult once she started. She expressed that teaching was “way harder than being an engineer” and that it “requires a lot of people skills which I do not naturally possess. And it requires you to do homework, and I’ve always hated homework.” William, who teaches industrial welding technology, expressed how technical people do not lack for context in their field, yet they are challenged with figuring out how to drive that context into teaching required content. Pete, from an automotive technology program, had to overcome pride and nerves associated with successfully preparing students to persist to graduation. It took years before he felt comfortable:

If you’re a teacher that’s, I think, what you’re here for, is to see how a student comes from the beginning to the end. And there are some other humbling times where you’re like, “Well, I could’ve done that a lot better.” You know, or something just didn’t go right. You know, certain things just don’t necessarily flow every day. But what I’ve learned from the beginning to now, my first four years I went- The first day of class, my stomach was in knots . . . I was just all nervous.

Pete seeks opportunities to further his development as an instructor, such as peer observations and participating in a summer camp geared toward preparing both students and teachers for academic work. Despite his resource-seeking and involvement in professional development to enhance his teaching practices, he shared that it always takes him a few days to settle down and find his own teaching patterns. He became more comfortable with his lack of formal experience after realizing his students are likely unaware of his concerns. He said,

I feel sorry for the first two years of my students that I had. Because it’s like, I’m just, “I’m learning this too, man.” . . . After the fifth year it was like, “You don’t know if I know anything or not.”

He also described how students recognize when instructors pretend to know what they are doing, suggesting instead to show them you care and prove your expertise by sharing your own experience.

Our findings also illustrate what sets instructors with backgrounds in the industry apart from their counterparts without such a background who have primarily been trained to teach. In many cases, these instructors have had to find alternative methods (e.g., professional development workshops, training courses, conferences, peer observations) to prepare themselves for teaching and to find continuous opportunities for improvement. A common challenge among faculty was misjudging students’ foundational knowledge of a subject. Both Rachelle and Walter learned through trial not to make assumptions about students’ experiences and knowledge and have had to adjust their teaching approaches. Rachelle explained,

I think sometimes we come into a classroom thinking students know more than they do, beyond what our subject matter is. Granted, they’re going to school to learn, but, I thought that they knew how to do a lot of things that the formula was requiring them, and they didn’t. So I think I had to step back and say, “Okay, we need to cover some basics before we go into this,” and make it relatable to them. And something they can understand, something they’ve dealt with in the past.

In Walter’s case, he often reminds himself to step back and remember not to assume students know even the most basic concepts, such as fractions and decimals, or how to use tools needed in his courses:

I run into those situations as well, where many students don’t understand the difference between metric and standard. “It’s a wrench. It’s the size that fits.” No, it doesn’t. And even from that perspective, stepping back, you’re making the assumption—like I said—even with the fractional stuff that this is all stuff you would think in most cases people would know by now.

Although not trained in teaching per se, faculty use prior experiences training others in their profession in their teaching. After rising into his leadership position in manufacturing, Walter applies his training abilities in the classroom using techniques from his former workplace. As a welding apprentice who trained older journeymen to use new mathematics methods, Kevin uses his experience to advise students to take math courses that will be useful in the metal fabrication industry. He also trains current welding apprentices on similar equipment and training techniques that he used on the job, indicating that his comfort in teaching comes from his role in industry:

I did a lot of training. When I was at [Company 1], I pretty much trained everything on all the equipment. When I went to [Company 2] . . . I did all the welding training for the apprentices. So it’s just something I’ve always done.

Seeking opportunities for ongoing improvement

Seeking professional development to improve their teaching was common across all participants. The instructors in our study all participated in a contextualization workshop to acquire strategies to teach math concepts with real-life examples. Some offered their perspective on this workshop and other continuous professional development opportunities. Arthur, a part-time math instructor, found that the contextualization workshop helped him to “knock off some of the rough edges of [his] instructional approach.” He added that the contextualization workshop was particularly useful, given its timing between the summer and fall terms and that his part-time status leaves him with limited time to become fully immersed in the actual “pedagogical stuff” relating to his courses. He said, “I have a ways to go, certainly, but I do try to take advantage of the training that is offered, when I can fit it in . . .” Although some were skeptical at first, most faculty gained huge takeaways from that workshop. Walter expressed that although he was not sure he would come away with anything, he joined the contextualization workshop because he was open to learning opportunities. He found that “it was kind of neat to see the way that they were addressing some of the situations,” and how he could “possibly alter the way I may be currently doing something.”

In addition, faculty described the advantages of learning from others, especially more experienced teachers. Arthur observes other instructors and analyzes how they teach to “get some idea of how the full-timers conduct their operations.” Similarly, Pete recognizes that although he may not be “able to implement them whole-heartedly,” he is “always up for new and different things that others are doing” that can help him.

Demonstrating practical application and using real-life examples

An obvious advantage of having an industry background is the ability to share firsthand knowledge, stories, skills, and technical expertise. Not only will faculty have a deeper understanding of the curriculum itself, but their perspectives help them know when to move away from traditional instruction and translate that information by describing how it is actually applied in the field. Drawing up and applying their experiences occurs both during course planning and on-the-spot when it becomes clear that a real-life example would further illustrate a key point.

Sharing what they know from experience is a common strategy to justify why students need to learn a certain concept or why something needs to be done a certain way. In architectural technology, Greg explains that “being able to use your own experiences as a way to rationalize [the reason you want them to do something] by telling them this is the way it is being done in the office.” Similarly, Charley teaches her ACDC students that math will help them think critically and solve problems on the job. She stresses this point by demonstrating how to calculate the appropriate amount of current through an electrical circuit to avoid blowing up a capacitator. Aaron also demonstrates math applicability by using algebraic procedures in a real-world example. He shared,

I always tell them, as you say in algebra, “You can build a space shuttle and fly it out of here. But if you don’t follow all the procedures and all the steps in building your project, you’re not going to get a good grade.” I don’t care about the project; I care about the work that you put in.

When possible, instructors relate concepts to jobs students are working in or trying for. Audrey incorporates students’ experiences by having them contribute to class activities:

[In cabinetmaking], I can actually bring the drawing of a set of cabinets or whatever they are making into the classroom and kind of work from that to get numbers off of. Same thing with the print. You know, if he has a print from a job they are working on. So sometimes it’s helpful, kind of, to get them to understand when they get familiar with the print from a job they are working on, it makes more sense.

Also critical to students’ learning and career preparation, faculty from the industry can impart job-specific knowledge, such as the actual terms and language used in work settings. For example, Walter shared how numbers and measurement references are different in the actual job:

You can go through a math class, but when you’re inside the trades, the way we speak is a little different. So, [students] are kind of learning different methods as well. Such as, the way that we name the numbers to the right of the decimal point.

This example demonstrates the importance of learning and the necessary vocabulary to do a job correctly. This point is further confirmed by Kevin who suggested that “coming up with some type of program that we could use to just explain the fractions and decimals” would be helpful.

Sometimes, an instructor will think beyond the text and share stories or situations from their work to emphasize a point. For example, Pete tells his students a story about maintaining long-term, positive relationships with coworkers by strategically splitting auto repair jobs according to everyone’s preference—often with the goal of avoiding conflict. It is fair to say that such an example is more convincing when it is shared by an instructor who has actually spent time in the field. In other words, professional examples are used as a method for achieving buy-in and trust from students because they prove the instructors’ knowledge of the field.

Faculty often use examples from real life beyond the field as a useful strategy to relate to students on a personal level or to apply concepts common to all students regardless of discipline, which serves to simplify concepts that may be intimidating or scary. Rachelle related course concepts such as percentages to calculating sale prices, for example. Similarly, upon discovering that his students lacked knowledge about basic terms, such as annual percentage rate and lending money, Kevin altered course content to help catch them up:

Just a basic understanding of lending money. You know, understanding an annual percentage rate—what does that mean? Calculate to divide and multiply to change a numeric value into an annual, or a monthly equation. Those are kind of the things that I found out that they couldn’t do.

Using networks as an instructional and program resource

Community college faculty often utilize their industry-based network to provide practical resources to facilitate students’ learning and contribute to program improvements. For example, Walter invited employers to an open house in his machine shop, providing students with chances to demonstrate how they operate equipment. This gave students the opportunity to connect with potential employers and demonstrate their accomplishments in the program.

Some instructors turn to employers to gain insight into what they are seeking in future employees and then create applicable course content for students’ careers. Walter uses employer recommendations to create applied projects and develop students’ professional skills. He explains,

I talk to a lot of employers from my own perspective—asking them what they’re looking for. And what that allows me to do is to bring that element into the classroom as well. . . it’s not only necessarily the shop application, as far as how to do something. But it’s critical-thinking elements as well.

Burt also made use of his employer network, describing how he learned that they were looking for employees with versatile skills. He explained, “They wanted an employee that could do more than just weld. They want them to be able to build things, measure, lay-out, assemble, and then run specialized forming equipment, and cutting equipment.” With this knowledge, Burt was able to develop curriculum and projects accordingly, providing students with opportunities to practice those skills.

Greg started using his network when he shifted his architecture course toward project-based learning, receiving requests from friends and clients who were interested in having students apply their skills toward real projects. In one of these, students designed and presented a real-life renovation of a local curling club. Greg expressed his excitement about the results:

I think [the client] was very impressed with what the students did. I think they presented themselves professionally. And their presentations were organized and clear and on-point. And their graphics, I thought, were very nice and clear. It went nice.

Although he indicated the challenge of finding partners for future course projects, the students’ enjoyment of presenting work to a real client motivated Greg to continue prioritizing such projects in his class.

Replicating the workplace

Continuing the idea of working with real-life scenarios, another method instructors use to “bring the outside in” is to replicate workplace settings within learning contexts, thereby preparing students to be good employees and teaching them how to navigate on-the-job situations. Greg described how early in his program instructors teach students the skills needed to move from semester to semester. In later terms, they focus on transitioning students “into what it would be like in an office” by replicating work settings as much as possible.

Similarly, in Rachelle’s Microsoft Programs course, students have the opportunity to practice specific skills used in their field, including entering information, codes, and billing statements into computer software, creating claims, and developing writing and math skills. Students also practice customer service skills. All of these skills are incorporated into the classroom with the purpose of preparing students for situations they will encounter when they enter the field.

In the welding program, Kevin understands that many students balance their courses with their outside jobs and lives. To help students become used to balancing their obligations and be responsible employees, he fashioned his shop to replicate a real shop setting. He described some of the elements of his shop’s operation:

I keep track of their hours, and it’s just like work. I give them, “Okay, you can miss two days.” Just like work. You get sick days. And now you have an excused day if you’re in the hospital or something. Obviously, you’re gonna cut ’em some slack. But, if it’s just “’Cause I don’t want to come,” it’s [shrugs]. It’s like 10 percent of the grade too, their attendance. Trying to get it where we have a time clock where we can just do that—punch them in.

Greg also believes in providing students with realistic work experiences by moving away from exam-based activities and creating projects that answer, “What do I need to get this done?” which, he explains, is something he asked of himself when he was first starting a job.